Photos & Review: New Disney Merriest Nites Christmas Party
We attended the new Merriest Nites at Disneyland. This special event promises “6 parties in 1” and features rare character greetings, “A Christmas Fantasy” parade, lower wait times for popular rides, and more. In this review, we’ll share party photos, what we accomplished, how it could improve, and whether it’s worth the money.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, check out our Guide to Disney Merriest Nites Christmas Party at Disneyland. I’ve already updated that with time-saving strategy for meeting rare characters, getting a good view for the Muppet Christmas Caroling Coach, and making the most of the event.
In a nutshell, this event is the Christmas counterpart to Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland or Oogie Boogie Bash at Disney California Adventure. This is the first time Disneyland has done a holiday-time hard ticket event, and it was announced in September, suggesting that the $165 to $175 was a last minute decision, and perhaps would have some growing pains during its debut year…
“Growing pains” are exactly what we experienced prior to the start of Disney Merriest Nites Christmas Party. The event takes place from 8 pm until midnight, but admission to Disneyland with the event tickets is allowed as early as 5 pm. Rather than getting our lanyards and wristbands right at the start of the pre-party mix-in, we waited until around 6 pm.
We were already in Disneyland and knew the lines outside the turnstiles stretched back to DCA, so we figured the smart option was going to Star Wars Launch Bay in Tomorrowland to check into the event. As it turned out, we would’ve been better off leaving the park and going to the turnstiles, as those lines were moving faster. We ended up waiting 67 minutes to get our wristbands.
This was frustrating, but it was compounded by the complete lack of guest recovery. There were a lot of Cast Members in the building, but only 4 stations printing tickets and giving out wristbands. I can understand that more scanners can’t be manufactured out of thin air, so it’s going to be slow-going. But there was no effort to improve the experience, explain the wait, or mitigate the frustration.
The only thing we were told regarding this delay was a few instances of “sorry, it’s our first night!” I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard this over the years from Disney, and my (mental) response is always: “Okay? This event wasn’t discounted or presented with an asterisk warning of first night screw-ups.” Of course, I’d never say this to a Cast Member as it’s not their individual fault and they probably have plenty of guests taking out frustrations on them. My disappointment lies with the organization as a whole, and management who puts frontline Cast Members in that position.
As with Disney IT, there’s a certain unstated arrogance in it being acceptable for day one to have so many problems time and time again. Little apparent effort is made to remedy this–the consumer is just expected to absorb it, despite the high price points. Despite its long-term reputation, Disney now offers poor customer service relative to similarly-priced hospitality industry counterparts, so I really shouldn’t be surprised. It’s just disappointing that Disney is no longer the gold standard.
Despite the night starting out on a sour note, it was smooth sailing from there. I’m not going to do a step-by-step recap of the event, in large part because a lot of our evening was simply spent wandering around an uncrowded Disneyland, soaking up the seasonal atmosphere and enjoying the entertainment, live musicians, and characters.
Although it’s billed as “six parties in one celebration,” that’s definitely marketing. I figured that would be the case, but part of me wondered whether the entertainment in each land would be somewhat consolidated or have a cohesive feel. It did not, which is entirely fine. Spreading out the offerings imbued the whole park with a festive atmosphere, and also likely helped with congestion. Just worth mentioning for anyone actually expecting 6 distinct parties–this is not that.
Main Street is the unequivocal winner of the Merriest Nites “parties,” which is unsurprising since it’s always the highlight of Christmas at Disneyland. With the Muppets Christmas Caroling Coach, the incredible characters from Mickey’s Christmas Carol, beautiful sounds of the Handbell Carolers, “A Christmas Fantasy” parade, there was always something happening on Main Street.
On top of that, it had pitch-perfect festive atmosphere, with new projections on the building facades in addition to the standard (stunning) Christmas tree and decorations, background music, and more. Merriest Nites essentially took the normal holiday ambiance of Main Street and dialed it up to 11, while reducing the crowds to a 1. We ended up spending over half of Merriest Nites on Main Street, and have zero regrets about that.
Part of the reason we spent so much time on Main Street was to catch the Mickey’s Christmas Carol characters. Minnie and Mickey Mouse were wearing new costumes as Emily and Bob Cratchit, and they rotated with Ebenezer Scrooge and Goofy Marley (one of my all-time favorite character costumes, ever).
We didn’t wait too long for any of them, strategically lining up before Merriest Nites started and again as the parade ended. I suspect that will change for subsequent Disney Merriest Nites Christmas Parties as word gets out about these new looks and demand increases. Disneyland fans love rare characters.
Another thing we appreciated about Main Street in particular was the low crowds. It’s been a while since we’ve experienced an evening at Disneyland during the Christmas season that Main Street was this quiet–probably dating back a rainy night or particularly cold evening several years ago.
We came to appreciate this even more after Merriest Nites, as all of our subsequent evenings in Disneyland have been bonkers on Main Street. Even leaving last night (random non-holiday weeknight), the front of the park was busier at 12:30 am than throughout this special event.
Along with low crowds, wait times for attractions were short or non-existent.
We didn’t do any attractions–wanting instead to focus on entertainment–but pretty much everything appeared to be a walk-on or close to it. We heard from some guests who have private ride vehicles on Indiana Jones Adventure.
More significant to us was that there was live entertainment all over the park.
While Disneyland has largely gotten back to normal (save for the big exception of dining) far faster than Walt Disney World, atmospheric musical acts are one exception to that. This Christmas party took the normal slate of entertainment and further enhanced it. These musicians, dance parties, and character greetings gave the park a tremendous festive energy.
With all of that said, it’s impossible to review the event without discussing the precedent being set by Disney Merriest Nites. Although it’s been rumored for years, this is the first time Disneyland has done a hard ticket Christmas party. In the past, the reluctance was due to holiday season crowds and the ability of DCA to absorb them. That’s why Merriest Nites is only a few evenings, on dates that are projected to be among the least busy of the holiday season.
However, once Disneyland gets a taste of the hard ticket event revenue for Christmas, there’s likely no putting the genie back in the bottle. A handful of dates will become a dozen next year, and things will snowball from there. A few years from now, we’ll be looking back to the “old days” when a Christmas parade and fireworks were included with regular admission at Disneyland.
I’m acutely aware of that possibility, and don’t think it’s a far-fetched slippery slope scenario. Just ask anyone who did Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party a decade ago to compare it to Disney Very Merriest After Hours. However, I’m also not going to cast aspersions on this year’s Disney Merriest Nites Christmas Party because it could morph into something undesirable or that negatively impacts the normal guest experience years from now.
We’ll cross that bridge if we get to it. I really hope we don’t, and Disneyland fans continue to hold the California parks to a higher standard. It’s entirely possible that Disneyland Resort will continue to strike the appropriate balance of solid day guest offerings and enhanced special event one, as is the case with Halloween.
Speaking of which, let’s turn to how Disney Merriest Nites Christmas Party compares to its counterparts in Florida, as well as Oogie Boogie Bash in California. Although the three of those are very different events from one another, the commonality is that they all have major entertainment productions that are unique to the parties.
Whether it be parades, stage shows, fireworks, interactive walk-through experiences, or World of Color–there’s something at those events that you cannot see during daily operations. On top of that, there are smaller differences that add up to something special: atmosphere, characters, music, snacks, etc.
Disney Merriest Nites Christmas Party is arguably lacking in this regard. The major entertainment is “A Christmas Fantasy” parade, which has been a holiday staple during regular days at Disneyland since 1995. While opinions are mixed as to whether this parade is a classic or past its prime, it’s certainly nothing new to the vast majority of locals.
With that said, we do appreciate that “A Christmas Fantasy” is presented in its full form. Although Walt Disney World advertised that the full Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade would be shown during Very Merriest After Hours, it’s a significantly abridged version. While we didn’t count the number of performers in “A Christmas Fantasy,” I’d hazard a guess that it’s close to double the number of Magic Kingdom’s parade.
However, “A Christmas Fantasy” parade is only presented once during Merriest Nites. Because of this, there’s not even the case to be made that it can be enjoyed devoid of crowds.
During the Christmas party we attended, Main Street for “A Christmas Fantasy” parade was the only time we experienced noticeable crowding. With that said, parade crowds were still far, far worse on non-party nights during our recent days in Disneyland.
There’s also the Muppets Christmas Caroling Coach, which we called Disney’s holiday highlight. Not to belabor the point, but we absolutely adored this. It made Merriest Nites “worth it” for us as big fans of the Muppets. It’s charming and funny, and the biggest must-do of the event from our perspective.
However, it’s hard to call this a major entertainment offering simply by virtue of its viewing setup. There’s a show stop at the end of Main Street, and if you’re not among the ~200 guests who are able to get a good or decent spot for that, you won’t be able to enjoy the Muppets Christmas Caroling Coach. (Don’t get a spot along the parade route–despite being on wheels, this is a show.) It feels more like a niche offering meant to appeal in a big way to a small subset of guests, or not at all. Which is the Muppets in a nutshell.
Then there are the meet & greets. Another highlight of Merriest Nites for us was seeing the characters in their new costumes for Mickey’s Christmas Carol. Some of the other greeting locations around Disneyland were incredibly well done, offering a mix of rare characters, unique attire, or elaborate backdrops. All very cool and undeniably ambitious.
However, this also doesn’t really scale. Outdoor character meet & greets are low capacity (although the current environment seems to have made them a bit more efficient) and thus cannot sustain an event like this. If they’re too much of a selling point or draw, the lines become prohibitively long. We’d say that Disney Merriest Nites Christmas Party was “perfect” in times of characters, but this is largely because not a ton of other guests were lining up for them.
On balance, I don’t think the first year of Disney Merriest Nites lives up to the high bar set by Oogie Boogie Bash Halloween Party at Disney California Adventure. Currently, we’d say that’s the gold standard for unique holiday hard ticket events at Disney’s domestic parks, with enough of a “value add” via unique entertainment and ambitiousness.
Disney Merriest Nites Christmas Party has flashes of that same greatness, but comes up just a bit short in all 5 of the parties outside of Main Street. If they all were of that caliber, this would be a must-attend event. Perhaps with a bit more planning time and certainty about the real world environment, that can be achieved in its second year (assuming the event occurs again).
For Disney Merriest Nites Christmas Party to be objectively “worth it” for more than just Muppets or Mickey’s Christmas Carol fans, it needs a few enhancements. First, a second showing of “A Christmas Fantasy” parade is a no-brainer to pull some of the crowds away from the first, and make easy viewing an actual benefit.
Second, a stage show that’s unique to the event. Fantasyland Theatre is sitting back there unused, and would be perfect for pulling people deeper into the park and absorbing some crowds. This would be a great selling point since it’s something Disneyland doesn’t already do for Christmas (and given the propensity for fireworks to be cancelled in even a slight breeze).
Finally, a bit more “plussing.” There was already a decent amount of this at the event–the light-up Christmas bulb lanyard, parting gift postcards, and beautifully-designed photo backdrops were all more than just nice touches. These show a level of thoughtfulness and effort that is appreciated, that actual care went into making the evening special.
Nevertheless, more along those lines is needed. An obvious one is complimentary candy cane and cookie stations throughout the park. This is low-hanging fruit (figuratively–we want sweet treats, not actual fruit!) and something Magic Kingdom has done at these events for years. More projections, lighting, decor, etc. would also be nice–anything that reinforces the notion that this is an experience you can’t have during a regular Christmas-time day at Disneyland.
Ultimately, we had a great time during the Disney Merriest Nites Christmas Party at Disneyland. The above attempts at objectively assessing it are more a result of us taking a step back and thinking about the party as opposed to how we felt about it in the moment. During Disney Merriest Nites itself, we had an absolute blast, enjoying the event far more than we did Disney Very Merry After Hours at Magic Kingdom.
In talking to other Disneyland fans, almost no one was as positive about Merriest Nites as us. In fact, some were downright negative–and their bases for that perspective were entirely reasonable. More than anything else, this made us reflect on our rather harsh review of this Christmas party’s counterpart at Walt Disney World. While the high points of the Disneyland event “spoke to us” more on a personal level, the Magic Kingdom lineup is possibly stronger.
Perhaps we’ve become “too close” to the cutbacks and experience erosion in the Florida parks, making us jaded on occasion–something we’ve endeavored to be mindful of and avoid. That’s not the case in the California parks, and a big reason we enjoyed Merriest Nites so much is likely as simple as being overcome with joy at being back in Disneyland at Christmas for the first time in two years.
When it comes down to it, that’s so much of the basis for each individual assessment of these holiday events–their ability to make guests feel special and overcome with the spirit of the season. Disneyland’s did that for us; maybe Walt Disney World’s will for you.
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and tons of other places!
YOUR THOUGHTS
If you’ve attended the Disney Merriest Nites Christmas Party at Disneyland, do you disagree with my assessment? Do you have tickets for the special event this year? What are you most excited about seeing or doing? If you’re a Walt Disney World fan, is there anything here you hope makes its way to the 2022 Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party? Any questions about strategy, tips, or anything else? Hearing from you is half the fun, so please share your thoughts on these questions, or anything else, in the comments!
I was a Magic Key Holder, but decided not to renew. We will go once during Christmas time, because I love Disneyland during the holidays. Do you recommend paying the $134 for an actual ticket or $165 for the special event? If we got a regular ticket, we would leave by 8pm, so would miss out on any night time events. We can only do 8 hours max there at any time. Haha
I. was actually quite disappointed in Merriest of Nites. I am a HUGE Disneyland fan and had an amazing time Sunday-Tuesday. Then, we went to the Merriest of Nites (our expected “highlight” of the trip.) The Muppets Show was a complete bust as we were on the parade route, but NOT on Main Street and could not see a thing. The Christmas Parade was at 9:30 and our Grandkids were falling asleep (as were we!). It was nice to have some short lines, but why not include Star Wars? Also, no fireworks, limited rides and no complimentary treats. Next year, I would attend at the same time, but skip Merriest of Nights and go to an exceptional dinner for far less money!
We enjoyed Merriest Nights at Disneyland on Nov 16 and I agree with your assessment overall. However, I am drooling over the quality of the PhotoPass pix you posted. We worked with 3 photogs at 3 locations, and didn’t get a single image worth downloading. Poor framing, out of focus, hot lighting and overexposure… just not the quality I always experienced pre-Covid. Disappointing and mysterious… wondering if there’s a story behind this.
Does anyone know when Akershus we will be opening up in Epcot? We are trying to make plans to go the first week of February and would like to know if we could get reservations.
We did the Christmas party the first night and it was just as good as the last one we went to in Dec 2019. We had a lot of fun that night and can’t wait to come back and do it again.
According to my Tween Daughter who loves all things Muppets this was the best Disney Christmas party ever.
Having been to both Halloween and Christmas Party in Florida and Oogie Boogie Bash I thought at a minimum the lack of free cookies or drinks was glaring. Character Selfie Lines moves incredibly slow although it was nice to see Santa Stitch and Belle and the Beast in their Holiday ball attire. Night time on the Mark Twain is also a rare treat since Fantasmic.
We went last night. It seemed like the first muppets show was in the most crowded, at least initially. Most people just seemed to join the crowd to see what was happening then took off after the first song. We found decent viewing spots by jolly holiday by standing behind the grass so no one could block our view, and it’s a tad bit elevated. Overall we loved the muppets show but the event was ok at best. Worth it maybe for the lower crowds and upgraded atmosphere. However it seems like almost all of it should be available on any night not for extra $$.
We went to merriest nights last night, 11/16/21. Thank goodness I read your blog and took all your tips! We got into the park around 3:00, went to launch bay around 4:30 and they were already giving out wristband/lanyards. We only waited 20 minutes or so. Also great tips on times to get pics with Mickey/Minnie and goofy/Scrooge! So with all that ease, it helped slightly with the disappointment of the event. We were expecting a lot more, the parties in each land were non existent and there wasn’t that feeling like at oogie boogie bash or the former trick or treat party. Maybe our hopes were set too high? It didn’t feel much more Christmasy than a regular night at the park. So we feel a bit cheated to spend all that for our family of 4 when we already have passes and could have gone any other night for the almost the same thing. We love Disney and do all the Disney things but have never been so disappointed! Again, thank you for your tips, it really really helped make the night better!
Hi! We were at the inaugural Merriest Nite event on 11/12 as well. We planned our family trip to Disneyland around the event. We presumed it would be similar to the Halloween Niles or After Hour events we’ve attend at the Magic Kingdom at WDW. We enjoyed it and took advantage of getting on rides with low wait times. We didn’t have to wait too long to get in or receive our wristbands and lights. As another mentioned earlier, we did not get a map or any specific instructions. The holiday lighting was beautiful and the few special treats we purchased were fine. Not great but decent
. The noticeable difference for us was the lack of any refreshments that were inclusive of the $175 per person ticket price. At every event we’ve attended at the Magic Kingdom unlimited non-alcoholic beverages, frozen treats (it is Florida ), popcorn, and pretzels were the standard. During the Halloween events there are also several trick or treat stations. So it was disappointing that there wasn’t something similar at this event. If even a ticketed type of thing, 2 tickets for a beverage and 2 for snacks. We loved people watching as so many of the mostly local folks totally embraced theme in Christmas attire, pajamas etc. Overall we enjoyed it, though we wouldn’t necessarily plan a trip to the parks solely around this event.
Hey Tom … we’ll be in the Magic Kingdom at WDW on 7 Dec, and dinner at Be Our
Guest. Have spent the $$$$ for the Extra Hours. Sure would love to meet you (and
your wife) in person, to thank you for the great blogs ….have been most helpful and
always very informative. It’s a special occasion for us … 59th wedding anniversary …
Coming from Chandler, AZ. Hubby has Parkinson’s and this will likely be our
last visit to WDW …. had sort of hoped to go in 2022 (our first trip was July 1972), but
the opportunity presented and going Dec 2-11. Hope we have great weather. Looking
forward to the snow on Main Street !!! Thanks again for super blogs.
I love the additions of the Mickey’s Christmas Carol costumes since Mickey’s Christmas Carol is one of my favorite Christmas specials of all time. Also, I love the addition of the Muppets. Hopefully, these all make it to WDW in the future since I doubt I will make it to DL during the Christmas season.
Although I’ve never experienced A Christmas Fantasy Parade in person, based on YouTube, I enjoy this parade and I love the soundtrack.
Would have been great if some complimentary libations or double-doubles materialized while you were in that queue at the beginning. Guest recovery at its finest.
Sadly no. I got in line at 6:30 and waited until 7:30 to get into the park. Our line literally just stood there, waiting for more necklaces to show up because they ran out. I guess in that confusion, the map and schedule did not get handed out. I wish I would have known! I was impressed with cast members checking wristbands at several locations in the park, even though I had my necklace on. I figured I missed something somewhere about a schedule. I’m so glad you guys had a great time!
Your blogs kept my spirits up all through Covid!
I attended Merriest Nights on November 12 and have never been to an afterhours event at any Disney park. I too experienced waiting in line a LONG time before getting into the park for the event. I missed the communication somewhere about what things were going on and where they were going on in the park.
I saw musicians in Adventureland and Lilo & Stitch at the Tiki room. I found the Muppet bus by accident as it passed through. I TOTALLY missed the parade because I didn’t know what time it was happening. I did not see any other performers and did not hunt for photo ops or meet and greets. I also didn’t know where to find special food for that night or merch for Merriest Nights. I saw people the next day wearing Merriest Nights shirts so I missed that too.
I wouldn’t give Merriest Nights a bad review because I had no expectations, but I wish I had known where to find things. I used the night to take advantage of low wait times for rides.
Did they not give you a map and showtimes guide with your lanyard and wristband? I don’t mean that in a snarky way–I actually heard of that happening A LOT, which resulted in confusion for many guests.